“For me, it was a thing I had gotten to a point at Roma, now with a new coach, he clearly had his ideas on who he wanted to play when everyone was healthy and to move the team forward and, look, I was really happy there,” Bradley said. “The club is fantastic, my family and I enjoyed living in Rome, but at a certain point it was just kind of like what am I going to do here?

“Am I going to stay here for another however many years and play 15-20 games a season, or go somewhere where I’m going to be challenged every day to take big responsibility, to really force and help my team to win? Obviously everybody is wired differently. Everybody has different things that motivate them. For me, the chance to come here and be a part of what’s going on in North America — I said I want to be a part of it and to not let this opportunity pass me by.”

On Tuesday as part of the league’s preseason caravan, Bradley, the Red Bulls’ Tim Cahill, and Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Galaxy paid a visit to the offices of The New York Times to discuss the coming season, the World Cup and other topics.

Bradley began his professional career in 2004 playing for his father, Bob Bradley, with the MetroStars. He decamped for Europe after the 2005 season, playing first in the Netherlands, then in Germany, on loan in England and in Italy. Coming back to M.L.S. gives Bradley, 26, a big pay raise, but it also puts the spotlight on him and on Toronto, a club that has failed to make the playoffs in its first seven seasons in the league.

Image

From left, Landon Donovan, Omar Gonzalez, Tim Cahill and Bradley dropped in at the New York Times on Tuesday.CreditDan Courtemanche/M.L.S.

“For me, the decision was two-fold,” Bradley said. “The opportunity to go to Toronto F.C., a club that has ridiculous potential as far as the city it’s in, the training ground and the stadium, the fans, everything is there for it to be one of the premier clubs in M.L.S. and North America. And obviously everyone there can admit that it’s not gone the way they hoped. And now, in the last year since Tim Leiweke arrived trying to understand how to rebuild things from the bottom up. Speaking with Tim Leiweke and everyone in Toronto I just got an incredible feeling, really a motivation in regards to what they’re trying to do.

“The challenge of now being a part of trying to build something, build something special, something that can stand up over a number of years, that part, that challenge is something that motivates me an incredible amount. So for me, there was the Toronto side of it. The day-to-day part of building a winning club, a club that can now stand with the Galaxys and Red Bulls as the top club in North America. That’s my motivation.

“Being a big part of that trying to take a lot of responsibility and put it on my shoulders on the field and off the field and all that entails. And the other side is what’s going on with soccer in this country, in North America. People talk about M.L.S. like it’s a retirement league. For it not to be a retirement league at a certain point you need players who are willing to come when they’re in their primes. When they still have their best years ahead of them. And able to step on field every single game and leave everything out there, and this isn’t just a place where guys can come at end of their careers to enjoy themselves.”

Not figuring in Roma’s plans set Bradley on a path back to M.L.S., though he did say there were other opportunities in Europe, and even among some other M.L.S. clubs. That said, a midseason transfer to another club in Europe would not assure Bradley of solid minutes and regular games, a situation he said was untenable with the World Cup only months away. He noted that two of his new foreign-born teammates in Toronto, striker Jermain Defoe (England) and goalkeeper Júlio César (Brazil), clearly came to the same conclusion: that joining M.L.S. was the best route to get them to the World Cup.

“A World Cup comes around every four years and you want to go into it certain that you’re sharp and fit, you want to get on the plane headed for Brazil thinking that you’ve done everything possible to prepare and to help yourself play well and to help your team be successful,” he said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that didn’t play a part. Having said that, again when you talk about different players, it’s not easy for me when I’m not playing every week. I love to play. I love training all week. I love the buildup to the matches. For me at a certain point, just the chance to be competing and playing regardless of what’s coming up, that’s what I’m about.”

Cahill, who spent the lion’s share of his professional career in England and is headed to another World Cup with Australia added a bit of perspective.

“We come here for international careers, for growth and because we see the bigger picture,” Cahill said. “A lot of people say they want to come here, but we’re doing it and we’re doing it properly. If you think it’s going to be easy, you’ll find out quick-smart that it’s not a glamour league. You get the hard end of the stick early. Players want to play against the best and want to prove themselves. I’m happy with my decision.”